With the development of electronic devices, many types of the electronic devices may be controlled by gestures of a user. In order to generate a control command for the electronic device, gesture recognition is needed. Various technologies for recognizing gestures are used in the electronic devices.
Systems employing gesture control in electronic devices have been described, for example, in the following publications:
International Patent Application Publication WO 2016/053459 A1 published on Apr. 7, 2016 and titled as “TENDON BASED MOTION AND GESTURE INPUT FROM A WEARABLE DEVICE” provides a device that detects a user's motion and gesture input by piezo pressure sensor array or light sensor array. However, the sensor arrays require tight fixing on a user's wrist to provide commands to the device or to other devices.
Patent Application Publication US2015/0370326 A1 published on Dec. 24, 2015 and titled as “SYSTEMS, ARTICLES, AND METHODS FOR WEARABLE HUMAN-ELECTRONICS INTERFACE DEVICES” provides electronic bands that employ multiple microelectromechanical systems (“MEMS”) microphones to detect and distinguish between different types of tapping gestures. MEMS vibration (sound) sensors must be distributed around a wrist in a wristband. However, placement of the sensors only in a wrist may limit the information available for detection.
Patent Application Publication CN105022471 A published on Nov. 4, 2015 and titled as “DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CARRYING OUT GESTURE RECOGNITION BASED ON PRESSURE SENSOR ARRAY” provides a device for carrying out gesture recognition based on a pressure sensor array which must be placed around a wrist in a wristband. However, placement of the sensors only in a wrist may limit the information available for detection.
Patent Application Publication US2016/041617 published on Feb. 11, 2016 and titled as “RADAR-BASED GESTURE RECOGNITION” describes techniques and devices for radar-based gesture recognition. These techniques and devices may recognize gestures made in three dimensions, such as in-the-air gestures. These in-the-air gestures can be made from varying distances, such as from a person sitting on a couch to control a television, a person standing in a kitchen to control an oven or refrigerator, or at several millimeters from a desktop computer's display. The techniques and devices are capable of providing a radar field that can sense gestures. However, since the radar sensor is placed on some distance from a user, the user should attend to the fact that his hands are needed to keep in the radar field. If sensor is placed on a one hand, then the other hand will be busy with gesture control.
Furthermore, there appear to be other problems and disadvantages in applying the systems and methods of the above-described publications such as:
A signal received in detecting a gesture may be unstable due to blind periods, lacking a permanent contact of a detecting device with body of user.
The user may be required to pay attention to a device's screen.
If a user wears a device on one hand, other hand may be needed to use for controlling it, so both hands are busy with a device control.
Piezo-based pressure sensors can require tightly affixing devices to a wearer.
Installation of external sensors outside the devices may be required.
Permanent skin contact to skin may be required.
Embodiments as described herein have been made to address at least one of the problems and the disadvantages described above, and to provide at least one of the advantages described below.